Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan

4 reviews

maggiemcfly's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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grunbean's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I read this with a book club, and this is a firm first five star of the year. It is deeply emotional. I have never read the ‘ordinary human failings’ of life like this. 

Though centred around a tragic event, this story isn’t focused on this and the answer to it. It explores the stories of the family members and what made them who they are. I wanted to cry when I read the paths the characters were taking. I think it’s very much a book to be read than explained. I will be looking into the others books from this author.

My final thought is a sincere f@!# you to Tom Hargreaves.
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brinnavirginia's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

This book is fine. It did not move me, but for what it’s worth it also didn’t bore me. The description of the book makes it sound like it will revolve primarily around the character of Carmel and her life in the wake of the violent crime allegedly committed by her young daughter, and this is a WILD misrepresentation. We see Carmel the least of all of the main characters. And it’s soooo male-centric I kinda can’t believe a man didn’t write it.
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reads_eats_explores's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Set in the 1990s, ambitious reporter Tom Hargreaves stumbles across a scoop: a dead child on a London estate. At the centre of the suspicions are one reclusive family of Irish immigrants; others on the estate call them ‘degenerates’, ‘bad apples’. But are they even to blame, or is this a modern day witch hunt?

Fiercely ambitious Tom is determined to get to the bottom of the events, but he has a brisk disregard for the ‘peasants,’ i.e. anyone, not a celebrity or journalist; he believes that nothing should get in the way of a good story, particularly none of the ‘ordinary human failings’.

Tom convinces the newspaper to put the family up in a hotel with all expenses paid. In the conversations that follow, the family are forced to confront the secrets, prejudices and silences that have trapped them for generations.

Told in a stream-of-consciousness style from various characters' points of view, this adds intimacy and depth to the narrative that would otherwise be difficult to achieve so well here. The author's exploration of love, desire, and mental health is poignant and beautifully done. 

Nolan’s characters are tangible and diverse in their physicality and emotion. There is a grittily true sense of the familial ties of the Green family; Nolan’s observation of their inner and outer emotional lives and the predispositions to why they act as they do are spot on.

Ultimately this is a stunning portrait of what it is to struggle in the face of incomprehensible circumstances, of repression, and its resulting damage.

I expected this book to be more like ‘Acts’ a "messy woman" book which I adored, but this is much more of a thriller/mystery. And I loved it; utterly compelling reading. 4.5 ⭐

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy. 
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